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Sheikh Tamim: Any talks must respect Qatar sovereignty

Qatar's emir expresses readiness for dialogue but says any solution to the Gulf crisis must respect sovereignty.

22 Jul 2017 11:14 GMT

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has said that his country is ready for dialogue to resolve a diplomatic crisis with a Saudi-led group, but stressed that any solution to the crisis must respect his country's sovereignty.

"We are open to dialogue to resolve the outstanding problems [so long as Qatar's] sovereignty is respected," Al Thani said in a televised address on Friday, his first since Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt cut ties with the peninsula.

Qatar has been targeted by the unprecedented campaign, Al Thani said, adding that he valued Kuwait's mediation and the support of the United States, Turkey and Germany for their efforts to resolve the crisis.

The emir thanked Turkey for "putting into force quickly a cooperation agreement signed between us and meeting our basic needs".

"It is clear that the campaign against us was preplanned. We took a test and passed it," Al Thani said.

The emir hailed the solidarity and resolve that Qataris have shown in the face of the crisis, and said it would make his country, which will host football's World Cup in 2022, even more resilient.

'Smear campaign'

"People are amazed to see Qatari people maintaining a high level of morale despite the unprecedented smearing campaign," Al Thani said.

"It was a true ethical trial. Our people have passed the test with colours, and we have held steadfast to our principles and traditions even in the time of trials, simple for the reason that we respect ourselves.

The Saudi-led sanctions include closing Qatar's only land border, refusing Qatar access to their airspace and ordering their citizens back from Qatar. The measures have disrupted the import of food and other items and caused foreign banks to scale back business with Qatar.

Initially, the Saudi-led bloc issued a tough 13-point list of demands needed to resolve the crisis, including shutting down news outlets including Al Jazeera, cutting ties with Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, limiting ties with Iran and expelling Turkish troops stationed in the country.

Qatar refused to bow to the demands within a 10-day deadline, and the anti-Qatar bloc has begun to shift its focus toward six principles on combatting "extremism and terrorism".

The speech comes a day after Qatar's ruler issued a decree setting new rules for defining "terrorism", freezing funding and "terrorism financing", and established national "terrorism" lists.

Earlier in the day, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the US was satisfied with Qatar's efforts to address concerns about "terror financing" and "counterterrorism".

He urged Qatar's neighbours to lift a land blockade as a "sign of good faith".